Harborfest in Norfolk/Portsmouth, VA

Norfolk is one of those cities that is very underrated. We had heard from several very good friends that we should make the effort and stop by for a visit and we were very happy that we did.  We timed our arrival a couple days before their big Harborfest Celebration. A whole weekend of parades, races, good food and fireworks all along the Norfolk/Portsmouth waterfront.

The boat parade

We had beautiful weather for the Friday afternoon boat parade but is got a little rainy and overcast for the remainder of the weekend. This was good for two reasons. Let boats to crowd the already crowed anchorage and the fireworks were split between Saturday and Sunday night. Two fireworks displays for the price of one!

The Harborfest Fireworks

The Veteran's Memorial on the waterfront was very moving. They had letters from servicemen of every war engraved in bronze. Each one was written to a loved one shortly before they were killed in action. We both got pretty emotional after reading the letters.

The Veterans Memorial

Also on the waterfront is the decommissioned destroyer, Wisconsin next to the Nauticus Marine Museum. Both were excellent to visit.

The Wisconsin

One of the event for Harborfest was the work boat races. These are boats that guys got out in every day and fish/crab/oyster every day. You can tell these guys look forward to this big event. They weren't fastest boats I every seen, but they moved a lot better than I expected.

Work boats getting ready for the big race
 

Early Outs First Home in Hampton, VA

After a nice weekend in Norfolk it was time to find a new home for Early Out. The trip was really coming to an end we needed to get settled somewhere where we could leave the boat while we went back to work in Cincinnati. We had called York River Yacht Haven and reserved a spot. We had stayed there a couple of months the previous summer and really enjoyed it. On our trip to YRYH we did not have any wind and we had a few days to spare. So as we were motoring past Salt Ponds we said what the heck, lets check it out. According to book there was nice spot to anchor. You just follow the markers past the marina until it gets too shallow, backup a little and anchor. We made it in just fine and we were impressed with how many boats there were in the two marinas, one on each side. Well we follow the directions in the guide book. Unfortunately, it went for deep enough to not deep enough very quickly and we ran aground. It was a brief bump and backed out without a problem. But we later realized, we hadn't touched bottom with our keel since we put the boat in the water at YRYH a whole year before. Not bad for how many miles we covered and how many harbors and anchorages we negotiated.

Early Out's new home

After a night on the hook, we decided to dinghy in to check out the marina. We ran into Jim Favors of New England 600 fame. He was pleasant as always and had nothing but nice things to say about the marina. We really hadn't considered staying here but maybe we should check it out. Well after meeting Cindy, the marina manager, and looking around at the nice floating docks and other facilities we decided to stay. Early Out, meet your new home.

It is sad to say Early Out, after a couple of years of great sailing and exploring is sitting at dock all by herself. Debbie and I check the web everyday and see what the weather is by Early Out in Hampton, VA. We have been back quite a bit to visit but it just isn't the same.

We hope to take her out again someday on some wonderful adventures, maybe even a around the world. But for now she is sitting peacefully in Salt Ponds Marina.